Sibyls

The sibyls were female
prophets
of Greek and Roman mythology. Their
prophecies,
which emerged as riddles to be interpreted by priests, were inspired by
Apollo* or other gods. The number of sibyls varied from 1 to 12.

prophet
one who claims to have received divine messages or insights

prophecy
foretelling of what is to come; also something that is predicted

The most famous of these prophets was the Cumaean Sibyl. Apollo offered to
grant her any wish if she would make love to him. Scooping up a handful of
sand, the Sibyl asked to live one year for each grain of sand she held.
Apollo granted her wish, but then the Sibyl refused him. As punishment,
Apollo gave her long life but not
eternal youth. As the Sibyl grew older, she shrank in size, finally
becoming so small she lived in a bottle. When someone asked the Sibyl what
she wanted, she would reply that she wished only to die.

One story tells how the Cumaean Sibyl led the Greek hero Aeneas* to the
underworld
to meet his dead father Anchises. Anchises then predicted that from
Aeneas would come the greatest empire the world had ever seen. According
to tradition, Aeneas's descendants founded Rome.

In another well-known tale, the Sibyl offered to sell nine books to the
Roman king Tarquin. He refused to buy them. The Sibyl burned three of the
books and came back to offer the remaining six at the same price. Again he
refused. She burned three more and returned again. This time Tarquin
bought the books, which contained prophecies about the future of Rome.
Tarquin kept the books in the temple of Jupiter*, where officials
consulted them on special occasions to interpret the prophecies. The books
were consumed in a fire in 83
B.C.

User Contributions:

I visited the cave of the Sybil a few months ago back in June of 2017. I sat in the very spot where she sat thousands of years before me. There was a small bowl size hole next to where she sat like she kept snacks there... maybe leaves that induced her visions. Just above her cave are stone stairs leading up to the Temple of Apollo, midway on the set of stairs is a tombstone like rock with a P carved into it. What is this? Is this where the Sybil was buried?

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